16-4 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



peck furiously at them. The lone egg was still unhatched 

 so we removed it from the nest and, upon blowing it, 

 found it not fertile. On this day, the remains of a 



FACING THE BIG WORLD 



The weaker of the two hawks, at thirty days 

 old, and just as he is ready to leave the nest and 

 brave the dangers ahead. The stronger one has 

 already left the nest. 



mouse and a three-inch yellow feather, probably belong- 

 ing to a flicker or meadow lark, were found in the nest. 

 At the end of another two weeks, we visited again. 

 We found but one bird in the nest, full grown but unable 

 to fly. It has been a mystery to me what ever became 

 of the other bird. Either this was the weaker of the 



ALL READY TO TAKE A FLIER 



Filled with fear, he is at the edge of the nest with wings 

 spread to keep his balance. This shows how well the 

 wings are developed before an attempt at flying is made. 



two with the other one already flown or else this was the 

 stronger of the two while the weaker may have been 

 killed by its parents or brother. We believe in the former 



theory however, for we found no dead bird near by nor 

 any trace of one. 



A few days later found the nest deserted, but with 

 little trouble the last of the birds to leave the nest was 

 located quietly perched in a nearby tree. That was the 

 last we saw of the hawks. 



While we enjoyed watching this family of hawks in 

 their daily life, we did not take, their pictures without 

 risk. We we.e attacked but once by the old birds and 

 this was not alarming as only a single strike was made. 

 The tree was an oak and it was difficult to sink the spurs. 

 Many a time the spur slipped from the bark and the only 

 thing that saved us was our two arms which clasped the 

 trunk. There was also the constant danger of falling 

 while taking pictures or being attacked by the old birds, 

 for we could not hold on while using our cameras. The 

 tree did not sway back and forth in the breeze but swayed 

 in a semicircle. 



I hope that if the readers of this article find a Red 

 Shouldered Hawk's nest they will not molest it or shoot 

 the birds with anything but a camera. Even this should 

 not be done if it is going to cause desertion. Though 

 they may steal a fowl occasionally, it has been proven 

 that hawks feed upon mice and other harmful rodents. 

 To'o many people are eager to use their gun and it is 

 alarming to notice the steady decrease of our valuable 

 birds. If this keeps up many more years, every food 

 crop will have many enemies, all of which should be the 

 food of plentiful birds. Birds are one of man's best 

 friends, if he but knew it, so think before you use your 

 gun, and do not harm any bird without just cause. 



GIRL SCOUTS PUT OUT FIRE 



Tj 1 XPRESSING her appreciation of the Forest Guides 

 -^ Department in American Forestry, Miss Vera 

 Laurence, an active and enthusiastic member of the 

 Girl Scout organization, writes as follows : 



"I particularly appreciate the Forest Guides. This is 

 a wonderful plan and I feel assured my girls will be 

 anxious to become members of the American Forestry 

 Association and help support your good cause. 



"I should like to mention the fact that on Friday last 

 seven of my girls and myself had occasion to put our 

 knowledge of fire-fighting into practice. Not so far 

 from my home we discovered a fire which was burning 

 in a patch of underbrush, weeds and tall grass. It had 

 already burned over quite an acre, so arming ourselves 

 with pine branches (cut from lower limbs of trees) we 

 got to work, after first dipping our branches in a small 

 stream nearby. We checked the progress of the fire, 

 putting out a horizontal length of no less than two hun- 

 dred feet of fire. A part beyond our reach which had 

 traveled fast and high through a densely covered ravine, 

 was later put out by some people in the vicinity. The 

 girls worked very hard and really did good work." 



T^HE annual growth is 0.65 cord per acre. 115 by 0.65 

 A equals 75 cords (mostly poplar). The farmer usual- 

 ly cuts an annual crop of 75 cords. His profit is $4.86 

 per cord. 75 by $4.86 equals $364.50. 



